Labor and Dean Winter today stooped to a new low by simply making up misinformation about Tasmania’s exciting renewable hydrogen industry.
Tasmania remains firmly on track for hydrogen production in 2024 and it is factually untrue to say that Fortescue Future Industries has left the State.
A spokeswoman for FFI told the Mercury Newspaper this afternoon that the business was retaining its Tasmanian operations and was still pursuing the Bell Bay project.
“FFI is committed to delivering green hydrogen projects in Australia and is making good progress across our portfolio. We are continuing to work with stakeholders, including the Tasmanian government, to secure power and water supply for our plans in Tasmania,” she said
Has Mr Winter also forgotten that only a few weeks ago ABEL Energy announced a partnership with Iberdrola to buy the former Bell Bay oil-fired power station with plans to spend $1.2 billion on a green methanol/hydrogen plant subject, subject to a final investment decision.
At that announcement ABEL CEO Michael van Baarle said there would be no issues with the supply of water and electricity to the site which will employ 500 people during construction and more than 250 when operating.
In Mr van Baarle’s own words:
“This announcement is the start of a very unique period for Tasmanian renewable energy. We are on the cusp of being a global leader in green methanol production, the future fuel of world shipping. It’s a great win for all Tasmanians particularly the Tamar Valley communities of George Town and Launceston.
In addition to water potentially from Tasmanian Irrigation, Mr van Baarle added: “In theory we could easily take saline water from the Tamar because between desalinating water and treating freshwater, frankly, there’s not a huge amount of difference,” he said.
And, Mr Winter seems to be completely ignoring the exciting green hydrogen projects which are advancing from Countrywide Hydrogen and LINE Hydrogen in addition to green hydrogen production in 2024 through our partnership with the Blue Economy CRC.
Tasmanians are simply getting sick and tired of Dean Winter and Labor making up stories and constantly talking down Tasmania with their doom and gloom mentality.
All this does is drive away investors, cost future jobs and undermine Tasmania’s economy, which has consistently been one of the top performers in the nation.
The Rockliff Liberal Government is about building, not blocking, and our strong economy has seen record investment into health, housing and education plus the creation of more than 56,000 jobs since we came to government.
Dean Winter and Labor don’t have the ability to deliver real solutions for Tasmania – all they can offer is scare campaigns, misinformation and undermining hard working Tasmanians.
